The Growth of Cross Country

Cross Country is one of the newer sports here at PCSST and has come a long way in terms of popularity. At the very beginning of the program students were hesitant whether they should join or not. Senior, Zuri Redmond, states that since her freshman year of high school she has seen a steady growth regarding interest amongst the student body.

When the program first began only a select few students who enjoy a good run and did not mind doing it competitively joined. However, Coach Skwiat himself claims to have seen a growth in participating students in cross country when he said, “Last year (2015) we had a total of 19 members at one point in the season - but that was up and down all season. This season we have about 33 students participating. So there was a huge growth in numbers, along with all of the athletes dedication.”

Why has the cross country team grown so much over the years? Many of the runners claim it is due to the dedication and loyalty that they have all put into cross country. Coach Skwiat agrees with his team when he stated, “I believe the program has grown because of the dedication and hard work of the student athletes participating. Without them there is no team.”

Not only has the program itself grown since the beginning, but the runners have grown as athletes as well. Although it may appear easy to outsiders, the students are running for a long distance and they are trying to achieve the best time possible, which is a low number of minutes, and it is not as easy as it seems. It takes a great deal of endurance and stamina for these individuals to build themselves up to withstand a two or three mile run. Through their rigorous practices, with Coach Redmond as well as Coach Skwiat, the team has pushed themselves to their limit in order to improve their stats.

Last year, PCSST gave recognition to one of their best runners, Hector Cruz. Though Cruz graduated, students have not failed to keep the growth streak. Seniors Andrea Gil and Roy Davis have began to shine in the 2016 cross country season by outperforming their best running stats yet! Although those two have shined so far this season we are not to forget the other amazing runners on the cross country team who are constantly pushing to become the best runners they can be. Coach Skwiat acknowledges that “In terms of improvement in race times, every race we have multiple personal best times for both the varsity 5k race (3.1 miles), and the freshman 2 miles race.” All the athletes who have decided to take on the challenge of running cross country have improved in their own way - making cross country one of the fastest growing sports programs here at PCSST!